Weightlifting | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/weightlifting
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018Thu, 24 May 2018 18:24:30 GMT2018-05-24T18:24:30Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Commonwealth Games days four and five – in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/09/commonwealth-games-days-four-and-five-in-pictures
<p>All the latest images from the past 48 hours of action at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast as gymnasts, swimmers, boxers and weightlifters battle for medals</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/09/commonwealth-games-days-four-and-five-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>Commonwealth Games 2018Commonwealth GamesSportAustralia sportWeightliftingAthleticsSwimmingGymnasticsHockeySquashCyclingNetballBadmintonPhotographyMon, 09 Apr 2018 10:23:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/09/commonwealth-games-days-four-and-five-in-picturesPhotograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty ImagesSteven Bloor and Daffydd Bynon2018-04-09T10:23:03ZTransgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard's eligibility under scrutinyhttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/09/transgender-weightlifter-laurel-hubbards-eligibility-under-scrutiny
<p>No official objection lodged against Kiwi athlete, but other teams at Commonwealth Games said they felt it was unfair </p><p>New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard went into the women’s +90kg finals at the Commonwealth Games as favourite, expected not only to win but also perhaps break records. <br></p><p>She finished the first half 7kg ahead of Samoa’s Feagaiga Stowers, but her efforts ended after she injured her elbow striving for a lift of 132kg.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2018/apr/09/commonwealth-games-2018-day-five-weightlifting-gymnastics-shooting-and-more-live">Commonwealth Games 2018 day five: weightlifting, gymnastics, shooting and more – live!</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/22/im-surviving-transphobia-when-id-rather-just-play-footy">I’m surviving transphobia when I’d rather just play footy | Simona Castricum</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/09/transgender-weightlifter-laurel-hubbards-eligibility-under-scrutiny">Continue reading...</a>WeightliftingCommonwealth Games 2018New ZealandCommonwealth GamesSportTransgenderAsia PacificAustralia newsMon, 09 Apr 2018 08:41:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/09/transgender-weightlifter-laurel-hubbards-eligibility-under-scrutinyPhotograph: Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesHelen Davidson2018-04-09T08:41:02ZZoe Smith overcomes adversity to brew up third Commonwealth Games medalhttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/07/zoe-smith-weightlifting-silver-medal-gold-coast-2018
• English weightlifter beats injury problems to win silver<br />• ‘My back’s been so bad … so I’m actually shocked’<p>From <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/20/zoe-smith-olympian-weightlifer-coffee-shop" title="">working shifts in a bubble tea shop</a> to an injection in the spinal cord since arriving on Australia’s Gold Coast, nothing about Zoe Smith’s route to a Commonwealth weightlifting silver medal has been conventional.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/oct/06/zoe-smith-commonwealth-games-bronze-weightlifting" title="">Eight years ago in Delhi, she became the first British woman to win a Commonwealth weightlifting medal</a>. Just 16 at the time, 5ft 4in and weighing a little over nine stone, she challenged many stereotypes of female lifters. It seemed she was bound for the very top of the sport but since then she has twice had her funding cut and sustained a catalogue of injuries that would cause even the hardiest athletes to reconsider their career.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/20/zoe-smith-olympian-weightlifer-coffee-shop">Zoe Smith: ‘You’re treated differently when you’re not an Olympian. I’m a coffee wench now’</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/07/zoe-smith-weightlifting-silver-medal-gold-coast-2018">Continue reading...</a>Commonwealth Games 2018Zoe SmithCommonwealth GamesAustralia sportSportWeightliftingSat, 07 Apr 2018 11:52:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/07/zoe-smith-weightlifting-silver-medal-gold-coast-2018Photograph: Jason O'Brien/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Jason O'Brien/Getty ImagesMartha Kelner on the Gold Coast2018-04-07T11:52:49ZCommonwealth Games day three – in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/07/commonwealth-games-day-three-in-pictures
<p>All the latest pictures from the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast as gymnasts, swimmers, cyclists and weightlifters battle for medals</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/07/commonwealth-games-day-three-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>Commonwealth GamesCommonwealth Games 2018WeightliftingAustralia sportTriathlonSportSat, 07 Apr 2018 11:47:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/07/commonwealth-games-day-three-in-picturesPhotograph: Paul Childs/ReutersPhotograph: Paul Childs/ReutersJim Powell2018-04-07T11:47:20ZCommonwealth Games day two – in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/06/commonwealth-games-day-two-in-pictures
<p>Weightlifting, swimming and gymnastics are some of the sports that the world’s best sports photographers have trained their lenses on during the second day of action on the Gold Coast</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/06/commonwealth-games-day-two-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>Commonwealth Games 2018Commonwealth GamesSportAustralia sportBoxingCyclingGymnasticsWeightliftingHockeySwimmingNetballFri, 06 Apr 2018 10:36:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/06/commonwealth-games-day-two-in-picturesPhotograph: Danny Lawson/PAPhotograph: Danny Lawson/PACarly Earl and Steven Bloor2018-04-06T10:36:55ZCommonwealth Games day one – in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/05/commonwealth-games-day-one-in-pictures
<p>Gymnastics, swimming, cycling and boxing: the world’s best sports photographers capture all the drama from day one</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/05/commonwealth-games-day-one-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>Commonwealth Games 2018Commonwealth GamesSportAustralia sportBoxingCyclingGymnasticsWeightliftingHockeyTriathlonSwimmingBadmintonNetballThu, 05 Apr 2018 09:31:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/apr/05/commonwealth-games-day-one-in-picturesPhotograph: Matt King/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Matt King/Getty ImagesCarly Earl and Daffydd Bynon2018-04-05T09:31:09ZMy dad used performance-enhancing drugs – it nearly killed him | Emma Fowlehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/26/dad-performance-enhancing-drugs-sport-abuse-win-athelete
<p>For athletes, winning is everything, no matter what the cost. That is why it will be so hard to rout drug abuse out of sport</p><p>In 1988 Linford Christie <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1988-09-30/sports/sp-3153_1_britain-s-linford-christie">failed his first drugs test</a> at the Seoul Olympics. That same year, my dad, Arthur White, won the first of four world titles in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZGLE4O8b14">powerlifting career</a> that almost cost him – and us – everything.</p><p>Sometime in the early 80s, when I was still at primary school and the world of performance-enhancing drugs was still a crude and embryonic one, he sustained an injury. A bloke at the gym suggested steroids might speed his recovery. He was reluctant, but he needed to get better fast; he had a competition coming up. Over the years, steroids led to amphetamines, and amphetamines to cocaine. Before anyone knew it, everything imploded.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/11/ethics-and-sport-long-been-strangers-to-one-another-chris-froome-bradley-wiggins">Ethics and sport have long been strangers to one another | Kenan Malik</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/26/dad-performance-enhancing-drugs-sport-abuse-win-athelete">Continue reading...</a>Drugs in sportUK newsSportTeam SkyCyclingRussia doping scandalAthleticsWeightliftingMon, 26 Mar 2018 11:56:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/26/dad-performance-enhancing-drugs-sport-abuse-win-atheletePhotograph: Emma FowlePhotograph: Emma FowleEmma Fowle2018-03-26T11:56:11ZChild’s tears spark weightlifting protest that raises bar for Iran’s sportswomenhttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/mar/17/weightlifting-protest-raises-bar-iran-sportswomen-two-young-girls
<p>Officials are finally allowing females to compete after the banning of two young girls caused global embarrassment</p><p>If you are good at weightlifting in Iran, you can become as rich as a Premier League footballer. The country boasts 300 professional weightlifters, dedicated arenas in every sizable town, and full-time officials in all 31 provinces. When an Olympic champion got married in 2006, his wedding made national television news.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/10/large-butts-big-thighs-weightlifting-empowering-women-feminism">Large butts, big thighs: why weightlifting is so empowering to women | Lizzie O’Shea</a> </p><p>Of all the many women’s projects I have supported over the years, this one is the most significant</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/mar/17/weightlifting-protest-raises-bar-iran-sportswomen-two-young-girls">Continue reading...</a>WeightliftingWorld newsIranMiddle East and North AfricaSportWomenLife and styleGenderSat, 17 Mar 2018 20:30:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/mar/17/weightlifting-protest-raises-bar-iran-sportswomen-two-young-girlsPhotograph: HandoutPhotograph: HandoutBrian Oliver in Ahvaz2018-03-17T20:30:59ZLarge butts, big thighs: why weightlifting is so empowering to women | Lizzie O’Sheahttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/10/large-butts-big-thighs-weightlifting-empowering-women-feminism
<p>We’re always told to diet and tone – to take up less space, rather than more. Now I’m pumping iron and proud to be expanding</p><p>I remember the first time I tried to pull a bar off the floor loaded with two big weights. Unease pooled in my stomach. My trainer was patient, perhaps a little bemused. “I’ve never met anyone who couldn’t deadlift 130 pounds,” he said flatly. But, I thought, he had also said he’d never trained anyone as short as me. I frowned up at him, wedged myself under the bar, rolled back my shoulders, and pulled for my life. At the top, laughter spilled out of me, in exhilaration and disbelief.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/03/worried-get-big-powerlifting-dropped-dress-size-exercise-review">Weightlifting is often something you are warned against, as a woman</a>. The squat racks are routinely draped with dudes. Exercise classes, attended largely by women, are full of disclaimers that the exercise will not “bulk you up”. Being toned and lean is the goal: taking up less space rather than more.</p><p>Physical empowerment is surprisingly gratifying, especially when you’ve spent much of your life being told you are weak</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/17/has-strong-become-respectable-face-skinny-for-young-women">Has strong become the respectable face of skinny for young women?</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/10/large-butts-big-thighs-weightlifting-empowering-women-feminism">Continue reading...</a>WomenLife and styleFeminismWeightliftingSportSat, 10 Mar 2018 06:00:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/10/large-butts-big-thighs-weightlifting-empowering-women-feminismPhotograph: RyanJLane/Getty ImagesPhotograph: RyanJLane/Getty ImagesLizzie O'Shea2018-03-10T06:00:10ZHas strong become the respectable face of skinny for young women?https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/17/has-strong-become-respectable-face-skinny-for-young-women
<p>A generation of Instagram stars and personal trainers are challenging old-fashioned notions of femininity, replacing images of thinness or fecundity with brute strength. Whether this is healthy is another matter</p><p>”Imagine you’re a Page 3 girl and they’re going for the butt shot,” says Chloe Madeley, helpfully.</p><p>It is a grey January morning in a gym near Leicester and Madeley, a former TV presenter turned personal trainer and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/madeleychloe">Instagram phenomenon</a> – and the daughter of daytime telly pairing Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan – is trying gamely to teach me the correct posture for squats with weights. Bum stuck out, shoulders pinned back, move from the hips. None of this is dignified. It is also killing my hamstrings, although there is only a wimpy 5kg weight on the bar I am lifting, compared with the 60kg she usually manages.</p><p>The 'ripped' look – where every muscle stands out – involves stripping away almost all your body fat</p><p>Aiming to be strong, capable and powerful is one thing. Wanting to look it takes us into murkier waters</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/17/has-strong-become-respectable-face-skinny-for-young-women">Continue reading...</a>FitnessHealth & wellbeingWeightliftingLife and styleHealthSocietyWed, 17 Jan 2018 06:00:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/17/has-strong-become-respectable-face-skinny-for-young-womenPhotograph: mihailomilovanovic/Getty ImagesPhotograph: mihailomilovanovic/Getty ImagesGaby Hinsliff2018-01-17T06:00:46ZChanging the game: Muslim women in Australian sport – in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/jan/11/changing-the-game-muslim-women-in-australian-sport-in-pictures
<p>With increasing numbers of Muslim women participating in Australian sport – from amateur through to professional ranks – photographer Lisa Maree Williams caught up with some of those involved</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/jan/11/changing-the-game-muslim-women-in-australian-sport-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>SportAFLAustralian rules footballWeightliftingBoxingIslamReligionAustralia sportThu, 11 Jan 2018 00:43:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/jan/11/changing-the-game-muslim-women-in-australian-sport-in-picturesPhotograph: Lisa Maree WilliamsPhotograph: Lisa Maree WilliamsLisa Maree Williams2018-01-11T00:43:40ZNaim Süleymanoğlu obituaryhttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/dec/03/naim-suleymanoglu-obituary
Weightlifter who fled communist oppression in Bulgaria to represent Turkey at the Olympics<p>The weightlifter Naim Süleymanoğlu escaped the communist oppression of his native Bulgaria by evading the agents detailed to keep an eye on him while he was competing at the world championships in Australia in 1986; he did this by hiding in the toilets at a Melbourne restaurant. He was flown into exile in Turkey and went on to play a significant role in the cross-border movement of hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian ethnic Turks, as well as becoming his new nation’s most celebrated sportsman.</p><p>Süleymanoğlu, who has died aged 50 from a haemorrhage after liver failure, was named best weightlifter of the 20th century by the sport’s governing body, and was in Reuters’ top 12 Olympians across all sports, named in 2012. Because of his change of nationality, and the global publicity that went with it, he had more influence beyond sport than any of the other 11.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/dec/03/naim-suleymanoglu-obituary">Continue reading...</a>WeightliftingBulgariaSportTurkeyWorld newsOlympic GamesSun, 03 Dec 2017 12:42:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/dec/03/naim-suleymanoglu-obituaryPhotograph: Michael Probst/APPhotograph: Michael Probst/APBrian Oliver2017-12-03T12:42:34ZWilliam Giraldi on life as a bookish bodybuilder: 'It's a poisoned way to be a man'https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/05/william-giraldi-on-life-as-a-bookish-bodybuilder-its-a-poisoned-way-to-be-a-man
<p>As a teenager, William Giraldi would pump himself full of steroids, hit the gym ... and secretly read Keats. His new memoir examines the absurdities of modern masculinity and envisages a better world in which his sons don’t get caught in its toxic grip</p><p>As a teenage bodybuilder, William Giraldi would hide a battered old Keats paperback between the pages of Muscle &amp; Fitness magazine to read during his evening cardio, a move he calls “a reversal of the classic Playboy mag inside a textbook”. His new memoir, The Hero’s Body, is littered with anecdotes like this: tales of the insecurities and absurdities of masculinity, which document the lengths men go to in order to feel a sense of self-worth in their manhood. Literature, art, music – almost anything that would be of no use on a battlefield – were condemned as effeminate by Giraldi’s family and gym buddies, forcing him to pursue these interests in secret.</p><p>“That’s the perfect illustration of the kind of bifurcated life I was leading at the time,” Giraldi says, likening his furtive Keats reading to that of a gay person in the closet. “You’ve got this part of yourself that’s central to yourself, that’s at the hub of you. You can’t express it, you can’t exert it, you can’t walk the way you want to walk in the world because of how you’ll be perceived.”</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/26/how-a-bookish-teenager-bodybuilt-his-way-to-manville">How a bookish teenager bodybuilt his way to Manville</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/05/william-giraldi-on-life-as-a-bookish-bodybuilder-its-a-poisoned-way-to-be-a-man">Continue reading...</a>BooksAutobiography and memoirCultureMen's healthFitnessBody imageHealth & wellbeingBiography booksHealthLife and styleSocietyWeightliftingSportTue, 05 Sep 2017 06:00:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/05/william-giraldi-on-life-as-a-bookish-bodybuilder-its-a-poisoned-way-to-be-a-manPhotograph: Provided by publisherPhotograph: Provided by publisherJack Urwin2017-09-05T06:00:34ZHow a bookish teenager bodybuilt his way to Manvillehttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/26/how-a-bookish-teenager-bodybuilt-his-way-to-manville
<p>William Giraldi’s relatives were as manly as the name of his New Jersey hometown suggests, so life became much easier after his uncle gave him a baptism of iron</p><p>In the heat of a May afternoon in 1990, 15 years old and dumped by my first girlfriend, I wandered down to my uncle’s house and found him weightlifting in his basement gym. Whether because I was depressed beyond my understanding or because I was desperate to win back the affections of the girl who had just ditched me for a footballer, I picked up a barbell beside my uncle and tried to inflate my noodle&nbsp;arms.</p><p>For 30 minutes I followed him through a series of bicep exercises, aping his style and form, and the sensation that bloomed within me then was one akin to birth. A black belt in karate, a former wrestler and bodybuilder, he seemed to sense that I&nbsp;required this renovation of selfhood. I&nbsp;would return to his basement the next day, and every weekday after that, for two years straight.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/09/best-holiday-reads-summer-reading-2017-john-banville-jackie-kay-kirsty-wark-melvyn-bragg">Best holiday reads 2017, picked by writers – part two</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/26/how-a-bookish-teenager-bodybuilt-his-way-to-manville">Continue reading...</a>FamilyLife and styleWeightliftingNew JerseyBooksMen's healthMenSat, 26 Aug 2017 05:30:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/26/how-a-bookish-teenager-bodybuilt-his-way-to-manvillePhotograph: William GiraldiPhotograph: William GiraldiWilliam Giraldi2017-08-26T05:30:27ZZoe Smith: ‘You’re treated differently when you’re not an Olympian. I’m a coffee wench now’https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/20/zoe-smith-olympian-weightlifer-coffee-shop
<p>Funding cuts mean the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist is working in a coffee shop and training after her shift, but says her circumstances have given her a fresh determination to succeed</p><p>“It’s interesting how differently people treat you when you’re the barista as opposed to the weightlifting Olympian,” muses Zoe Smith. “At the moment, I’m just coffee wench.” The 23-year-old laughs – her dark, self-deprecating sense of humour finding endless fuel in her situation. For the last few months, the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist and 2012 Olympian (she missed out on Rio with injury), has been working in a smart, central London cafe – the kind that uses weighing scales and a thermometer to ensure the perfect cup of speciality coffee. After the end of this month, her monthly wage will be her sole source of income after to UK Sport’s decision to <a href="https://preview.gutools.co.uk/sport/2017/feb/20/gb-badminton-staggered-uk-sport-funding-olympic" title="">cut all of British Weightlifting’s funding</a> from June&nbsp;onwards.</p><p>We meet on a Tuesday evening at the Performance Ground gym on London’s busy Kingsway where Smith is being allowed to train free of charge in return for a few social media posts. It’s 6.30pm by the time she arrives, looking grateful for the chance to sit down and restore some oomph to her weary legs.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/06/uk-sport-elite-funding-olympics-badminton-weightlifting">Does UK Sport's funding work? How many medals do Team GB really need?</a> </p><p>I’ve had people look confused and ask: ‘What are you doing here?’ Oh you know, just trying to earn a living</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/sep/05/ali-jawad-paralympics-powerlifting-rio-crohns-disease">Paralympic powerlifter Ali Jawad: ‘When I was born the doctor wanted to kill me’ | Donald McRae</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/20/zoe-smith-olympian-weightlifer-coffee-shop">Continue reading...</a>Zoe SmithWeightliftingSportSat, 20 May 2017 08:00:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/20/zoe-smith-olympian-weightlifer-coffee-shopPhotograph: Teri Pengilley/Teri Pengilley for the GuardianPhotograph: Teri Pengilley/Teri Pengilley for the GuardianSarah Shephard2017-05-20T08:00:19ZGB Badminton ‘staggered’ after UK Sport rejects seven Tokyo funding appealshttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/20/gb-badminton-staggered-uk-sport-funding-olympic
• Badminton funding slashed to zero, while archery and fencing hit <br />• UK Sport defends no-compromise approach in pursuit of medals<p>UK Sport has defended its decision to reject appeals from GB badminton and six other sports for funding for the next Olympic cycle by warning that if it took “softer decisions now” Britain might end up with a heavily reduced medal haul at Tokyo 2020.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/06/uk-sport-elite-funding-olympics-badminton-weightlifting">Does UK Sport's funding work? How many medals do Team GB really need?</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/20/gb-badminton-staggered-uk-sport-funding-olympic">Continue reading...</a>BadmintonFencingWeightliftingSport politicsUK SportSportMon, 20 Feb 2017 13:27:23 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/20/gb-badminton-staggered-uk-sport-funding-olympicPhotograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesSean Ingle2017-02-20T13:27:23ZDoes UK Sport's funding work? How many medals do Team GB really need?https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/06/uk-sport-elite-funding-olympics-badminton-weightlifting
<p>With many sports facing 20 minutes each to save their funding, UK Sport’s insatiable appetite for medals may not be for the overall good of the country</p><p>Twenty minutes: that is how long GB badminton, archery and weightlifting will have to make their cases when they arrive at UK Sport on Monday, begging bowls in hand, PowerPoint presentations at the ready, desperate to reverse the decision to annihilate their Olympic funding. Twenty minutes to enrich their balance sheet by seven shiny figures. Twenty minutes to save jobs. Twenty minutes to turn around the direction of their sport.</p><p>It sounds a tad hyperbolic but Chris Langridge, a Rio bronze medallist in the badminton men’s doubles, believes it is that stark. “Government aid pays for everything from coaches to shuttlecocks,” he says. “Without elite funding our youngsters coming through would probably have to stop. You can’t beat the world’s best while also doing a part-time job to pay the rent.”</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/dec/16/sport-england-weightlifting-badminton-archery-wheelechair-rugby-tokyo-2020-olympic-funding">Sport England boosts weightlifting, badminton, archery and wheelchair rugby</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/dec/09/uk-sport-funding-badminton-catastrophe-">UK Sport funding axe ‘catastrophic’ for badminton, says chief executive</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/06/uk-sport-elite-funding-olympics-badminton-weightlifting">Continue reading...</a>UK SportBadmintonWeightliftingSportMon, 06 Feb 2017 08:42:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/06/uk-sport-elite-funding-olympics-badminton-weightliftingPhotograph: David Ramos/Getty ImagesPhotograph: David Ramos/Getty ImagesSean Ingle2017-02-06T08:42:05ZRaise the bar: a beginner's guide to lifting weightshttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/feb/01/weight-training-get-fit-personal-trainer-zanna-van-dijk
<p>Want to give yourself a boost, physically and mentally? Follow this full-body workout</p><p>If you want to get stronger in body and mind, this beginner’s full-body workout is a good place to start. Our bodies want to be fit and strong, fast and powerful. It is just that in our modern-day lives, in which we spend the vast majority of our time sitting down, we aren’t living up to our potential. The benefits of lifting weights are endless. It strengthens your muscles and your bones, too. It reduces your chances of developing osteoporosis, something of which postmenopausal women are particularly at risk. Lifting weights supports all other types of training – running, cycling or swimming – by developing muscular strength.</p><p>Perhaps the most valuable benefit of resistance training, and the main reason I love it so much, is that lifting weights enables you to function better in everyday life. You can carry shopping, pick up your children, move furniture with ease. It helps make you healthier mentally, too: you become more confident and feel happier from the endorphins.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/feb/01/protein-supplements-shakes-real-food-which-is-better-for-you">Pumped on protein: can a shake ever be as good as a plate of food?</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/feb/01/weight-training-get-fit-personal-trainer-zanna-van-dijk">Continue reading...</a>FitnessLife and styleWeightliftingSportWed, 01 Feb 2017 10:00:13 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/feb/01/weight-training-get-fit-personal-trainer-zanna-van-dijkPhotograph: Laurie FlethcherPhotograph: Laurie FlethcherZanna van Dijk2017-02-01T10:00:13ZChina weightlifters lose golds from 2008 Games after IOC retestinghttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jan/12/chinese-weightlifters-lose-golds-ioc-2008-games
• Liu Chunhong, Cao Lei and Chen Xiexia test positive<br />• Belarusian shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk fails retest from Beijing 2008<p>Three of China’s dominant weightlifting team from the Beijing Olympics have been caught doping by the International Olympic Committee’s programme of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/nov/17/failed-drug-tests-beijing-2008-olympics-ioc" title="">retesting samples from the 2008</a> and 2012 Games.</p><p>Liu Chunhong (69kg category), Cao Lei (75kg) and Chen Xiexia (48kg) have tested positive for human growth hormone-releasing peptide GHRP-2 and now lose the gold medals they won in Beijing.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/nov/17/failed-drug-tests-beijing-2008-olympics-ioc">IOC announces 16 more positive doping cases from 2008 Beijing Olympics</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jan/12/chinese-weightlifters-lose-golds-ioc-2008-games">Continue reading...</a>WeightliftingOlympic GamesDrugs in sportOlympics 2008Olympic Games 2012SportThu, 12 Jan 2017 22:19:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jan/12/chinese-weightlifters-lose-golds-ioc-2008-gamesPhotograph: Andres Leighton/APPhotograph: Andres Leighton/APPress Association2017-01-12T22:19:31ZDancing for a cause: Kiribati’s climate activist Olympic weightlifterhttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/dec/21/dancing-for-a-cause-kiribatis-climate-activist-olympic-weightlifter
<p>David Katoatau generated headlines in 2016 for his joyous performances in Rio – and for his deadly serious message</p><p>Few casual observers would recall the winner of the men’s 105kg weightlifting category at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Many, though, will remember the athlete with the broad smile who danced his way into a 14th-placed finish.</p><p>David Katoatau is an unlikely climate change activist. An affable weightlifter from Kiribati, a collection of atolls spread across an area of the Pacific Ocean the size of India, Katoatau never intended to become a global ambassador for his small country. Yet with rising sea levels posing an existential threat to the i-Kiribati (as inhabitants of Kiribati are known), the Olympian felt compelled to raise awareness.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/dec/21/dancing-for-a-cause-kiribatis-climate-activist-olympic-weightlifter">Continue reading...</a>Olympic GamesRio 2016WeightliftingClimate changeAustralia sportSportEnvironmentKiribatiTue, 20 Dec 2016 19:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/dec/21/dancing-for-a-cause-kiribatis-climate-activist-olympic-weightlifterPhotograph: Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesKieran Pender in Buota, Kiribati2016-12-20T19:00:00Z